Wednesday, May 07, 2008

CC: San Francisco Coffee Roasting Company

I never really thought much of it before, but it never fails that every city has at least one establishment that stands in tribute/memory of another place. One good example I recently encountered was a Philly cheese steak joint in Syracuse, NY called called Taste of Philadelphia which did end up serving a decent Philly cheese steak (the bread could've been toasted) and a whole lot of love for Philadelphia (I have never seen so much Rocky memorabilia).

And while Philly cheese steak haunts are somewhat common, occasionally a rare homage pops up such as an Atlanta coffeehouse I ran across in my travels called San Francisco Coffee Roasting Company. At first I couldn't figure out what San Francisco has as far as unique corners on the coffee world, I later discovered via the website that there's not much beyond the owners' personal experience in the city of the 49ers. On a random note though, I would say that San Francisco does have most excellent coffee.

SFCRC has two locations (apparently soon to have a third), both located NE of downtown. I managed to make it to the more southern location on a very sunny weekday afternoon. Upon walking towards their moderately-sized parking lot bordered with outside tables, the building displays fairly nondescript as a basic rectangle of a building with really nice patio doors. The inside displays plenty of warm red and orange colors, some beautiful round wooden tables, and fairly interesting art on the walls.

The coffee is roasted in-house and seems to be the passion of the business. I poured for myself (as it is self-serve) a cup of Colombian Supremo which came off sweet and a bit saucy (almost like marinara, in a good way); overall a tremendous cup of coffee. The espresso was not as great, as it had a strong jaggedness and noticeable char. The tea is free leaf.

While I've only been to San Francisco twice, I can't really say that this Georgian coffeehouse made me think of the Bay area and/or its coffee scene, though it did brighten up my day a little bit (especially as they had some much needed WIFI). And while it appears they could use some improvement with their espresso, SFCRC definitely seems to produce some fairly triumphant coffees. If you're nearby, it's worth the stop.

1 comment:

I love to know that you notice such ironies as well. Here in Nashville, there'e a little coffee shop called "Portland Brew - Taste of the Northwest." An Oregon native myself, I can't help but notice in the Nashville location, there are fewer people wearing North Face fleece and there's never the great heavy fog hanging on the surrounding mountains, but the coffee is still decent...although never quite as strong.